


Always The Gaurdian

by SnorkleShit



Series: Supergay Network Challenges [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Cat as Charlene, First Meeting, Gaurdian!James, Gaurdiwinn, It's not in this, Librarian!Winn, Librarian/Guardian AU, Librarians au, M/M, Scholsen, Supergay Network, but in case anyone's wondering, challenge, i imagine J'onn filling the role of Judson, i seriously love that ship name come on guys, it's better than the other two, wimmy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 18:19:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8906962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnorkleShit/pseuds/SnorkleShit
Summary: Supergay Network: Challenge #1: Scene Stealer↳
“You call Excalibur ’Cal’?” James asked incredulously. 
“We’re friends,” Winn explained rapidly. “Best friends. Besties, really.” 
[AKA the Librarian!Winn and Guardian!James AU that nobody asked for]





	

**Author's Note:**

> My entry for the first Supergay Network Challenge: Scene Stealer! The challenge was to take one of my gay ships from Supergirl and place them in an AU kinda of an iconic scene from something else. And how could I resist, with James becoming the Guardian as a vigilante? And Winn being such a genius?? 
> 
> THE ANSWER IS THAT I COULDN'T RESIST SO HERE YOU GO

A glowing job application to the New York Metropolitan Library? James had seen it all. _It must be some sort of chemical reaction in the paper,_ James told himself, as he watched the letters glow as they appeared on the page. As if they were being written right before his eyes by some divine force. 

The light and the letter pulled at something, something deep inside of him. He suddenly felt like he was swept up in a rush of emotion. Everything that made him love life- passion and wonder, joy and exhilaration, fear and anticipation. The beat of his heart stalled as he tried to make sense of what he was reading, and why it would make him feel so much all at once. 

A job at a Library? Why would a Library need a photographer? 

_Only one way to find out._

\----------------

James made his way through the Metropolitan museum, nervously smiling at people as he passed them, the white envelope clutched nervously in his hand as he made his way through the building. Everywhere he asked, he got barely any answers, until someone tapped him on the shoulder and told him to go to a certain room on the far side of the third floor, and find a woman named Cat Grant. 

_Good luck!_ The strange girl had called, as he had started to walk away. That couldn’t be good.

He finally reached his only lead, a tall older blonde woman with the posture of a goddess and the gaze of a shark. She was reading over something on her phone as she leaned against the assistant’s desk, as poised as a painting. 

“Uh, excuse me, are you Ms. Grant? I was told to look for you-” James leaned forward, holding out a hand to introduce himself, but the women didn’t even look up at him. She sighed, reached into her pocket, and pulled out a hundred dollar bill.

“I told Winn to stop ordering pizza, this organization is on a tight budget! But no! I’m the only one that’s smart enough to care about budgets, or to care about anything sensible at all…” She muttered as she held it out into the air in the direction of his voice, eyes still locked on her screen. 

“Uh, no, i’m not here to deliver anything. I received a letter and was told to talk to you about it? And talking _usually_ involves acknowledging the other person’s existence.” James announced, rocking back on his heels as she slowly turned to look up at him.

He was frozen in her glare almost the minute it landed on him, and he smiled awkwardly as she looked him up and down. She didn’t have a speck of interest on her face, until her eyes landed on the white envelope in his hands. Her eyes widened, flicking back up to his face as she smiled widely. 

“The white envelope! My, my, what a specimen the Library has chosen this time!” Ms. Grant pursed her lips, eyeing him intently. 

“You look smart, but not like a genius, and last I checked the pathetic twerp we call a Librarian is still kicking. So you must be here to keep him that way, pity. What are you, a beat cop? No, you’re not a meathead...detective, maybe?” She asked, taking a few choice strides forward and forcibly grabbing his arms, squeezing them and lifting them up. He tensed under her touch, glancing around in alarm. 

“No, i’m a photographer...I was informed of a job offer? Can you _please_ let me go, Ms. Grant?” He asked, pulling away from her as hard as he dared. She dropped his arms, taking a step back and crossing her own. She scoffed, narrowing her eyes. 

“A photographer! Are you kidding me? You can’t be just any old photographer. Do you have any fighting experience?” She demanded skeptically. James straightened his purple dress shirt once more. 

“Fighting? Well, actually, I do - but what does a Library need a soldier for?” He inquired. Cat hummed thoughtfully, spinning away from him and starting to quickly walk towards the door. James had no choice but to follow her. 

“The Library doesn’t need a _soldier_ , you simple minded artistic type.” She said scathingly, making James furrow his brow. What was with this woman? She was terrifying, that was for sure. 

“The Library needs a _Guardian._ And by some trick of fate or mistake, it’s chosen you. Lucky you! _Not._ Alas, we’ll just have to see how you do, won’t we? Who knows, maybe you’ll surprise me. Wouldn’t that be nice?” She asked dryly. 

“No offense, but I don’t see why a bunch of books need guarding. And what’s a Guardian, anyways?” James asked as he watched the slender woman stride up to a bookcase. She turned and gave him a sly smile, like she knew a whole universe that he didn’t. With her cold eyes locked onto him, she pulled one of the books out, and a latch sounded. 

“What’s a Guardian? Adorable.”

James stared at the bookcase in awe as it swung open, revealing a path behind it beyond the wall.

“What does a library need with hidden passages?” James asked in disbelief. Cat rolled her eyes.

“Oh, this isn’t the Library. This is just the entrance to the _real_ Library. Confusing, I know. Do I care if you’re confused? No, I don’t. Walk.” She ordered, nearly forcing him through the new opening into a strange, pale elevator. 

“So, what does this… _Guardian_ do?” James demanded, once the elevator started to move. 

“Each Librarian has a Guardian, someone who’s grounded, level-headed and has a good right hook, to put it in your vernacular.” Grant said primly. 

“My vernacular? What exactly is that supposed to-” James started to protest, but was distracted when he glanced down to look at the pad reading off the levels. This couldn’t be possible. The numbers were spinning by at the speed of light, and from what he could see, they were in the 2000s. The elevator did feel like it was going strangely fast, and yet he felt none of the inertia directly...almost like they were floating. 

“We’re going down! Really, _really_ far down! How is this possible? Is it safe?” James exclaimed in amazement. Cat blinked at the pad, then waved her hand dismissively.

“Oh, don’t pay attention to that. It’s more of a metaphor.” She replied. James whipped his head over to stare at her in confusion, but she just carried on reciting her spiel in a mostly disinterested tone. 

“Think of the Guardian as the common sense to the Librarian’s head in the clouds.” Ms. Grant finished. James wondered what kind of job could possibly be waiting for him when these doors opened.

Once the elevator had finally stopped, they appeared in a short hallway before another pair of similar white doors. 

“The Library is where we keep all the artifacts and magic that’s too dangerous to be left out in the idiotic world.” Cat explained as they stepped forward. James scoffed at her words, begining to suspect this was some sort of elaborate joke.

“There’s no such thing as mag-” He started to reply matter of factly, when those white doors finally slid open to reveal a sight he could never have imagined. His breath left his body and his eyes went wide to drink in the impossible sight. The room was...unbelievably large. The rows of wooden bookshelves and arching ceiling lights seemed to go on for _eternity_. A staircase in front of them framed by giant golden lion statues lead to a long corridor between the shelves, that stretched on forever, like the ladder to Heaven itself. Lining this corridor where display cases of these very artifacts that Cat must have been referring to. 

Cat was smiling smugly as she looked over the glowing impossible room. She took James’ stunned silence as an opportunity to carry on with what she was explaining. The sooner she was done, the sooner she could return upstairs to her far more important work. _Honestly, she of all people shouldn’t always have to play tour guide…_

“The Library collects ancient knowledge and ensures that magic - _real_ magic - doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. Can you imagine magic in the hands of ISIS? Russia? The Kardashians? Well, that’s what we’re here for.” Cat said, gesturing to the rows of shelves. 

“Is that - is that the _Arc of the Covenant?_ This, this is real? This can’t be real!” James said, pointing to the golden box not too far away. He was almost laughing in nervous disbelief. Cat Grant gave him an annoyed look.

“You got the white envelope. An invitation to join the Library, which means the Library _needs_ your expertise. Whatever that might be.” Cat said sternly. “Somehow, in someway, you are more valuable than anyone else in the world for the task at hand.” 

James turned to stare out at the never ending Library in further disbelief, as his mind started to attempt to wrap itself around the idea. Cat raised her chin, crossing her arms. 

“Welcome to the secret world, James Olsen. Welcome to the Library.” She said, with the first slight degree of warmth all day. Paired with an overall exasperation. 

As if on cue, another voice began to sound out from between the shelves, somewhere to the left. A man’s voice. 

“Cal, cut it out! I mean it! Just hold up the camera like you’re supposed to!” Someone was complaining, as footsteps approached. From around the edge of one of the nearest bookcases, a young man about James’ age appeared. He was...actually kinda cute. Not that James was looking for anything like that. He had brown hair and rounded shoulders, but a good frame. He was walking swiftly, with his face down in the screen of the tablet in his hands. Behind him trailed a flying sword that was masterfully balancing a Go Pro on it’s end. 

“Ah. And here he comes. The Librarian himself. In all his...glory.” Cat said disapprovingly, her face falling into a grimace. James was too busy staring with his mouth open at the _flying sword_. 

“Mr. Shoe, you better pray that i’m not seeing what I think i’m seeing. Because what I think i’m seeing is you using Excalibur for more of your time wasting nonsense.” Cat called out in a cold and sharp voice. 

The man’s head whipped up as he froze in place, eyes wide in terror at being caught. James didn’t blame him, the woman must be nerve wracking to work with. But James didn’t care about that right now, he was too preoccupied with the need to get a better look at that sword.

“It’s Schott, you know that, Ms. Grant!” The man protested. Cat rolled her eyes. 

“Whatever.” She dismissed. As James moved down the white steps and warily started to move towards the man and the flying sword, he finally took full notice of James. 

“Who are you?” He asked, first directed at James. Then he looked up at Cat. “Who is he?” 

“James Olsen. Photographer. He got a white envelope. I guess the Library is really desperate for Guardians.” Cat explained dryly. As James stared up at the sword, Winn scoffed. 

“What? Why would you send that to him! I don’t need a Guardian! I’ve been fine since Kara left!” Winn protested, stomping his foot. Cat shook her head in disbelief. 

“I don’t send the letters, you idiot! You’ve been here how long? Since you were 16? And you _still_ don’t know that the _Library_ sends the invitations? Honestly, just being in the same room as you two is lowering my IQ. Librarian, meet Guardian. Guardian, meet Librarian. My job is done.” With that, the woman was spinning on her heel out the door. 

In the midst of Cat’s reprimand, James finally turned to look the man up and down again. He offered him a smile and tried to offer his hand, but the minute he reached out, the flying sword dropped the camera to the floor and raced forward, causing James to freeze as it flew to hover near his throat. 

“Cal, no!” Winn exclaimed. James panicked, reaching up to push the sword away from his neck. Winn’s eyes widened, and he reached out a hand. 

“Don’t!” He exclaimed harshly. James froze, staring at him in confusion and fear. Winn rushed forward. 

“Wounds caused by Excalibur never heal, they’re magic. Cal, go on patrol!” Winn ordered angrily, and with that, the sword whooshed away into the shelves. James watched it go as he rubbed his throat nervously. 

“That was _Excalibur?!_ ” James exclaimed, pointing to where the sword had been as he turned to stare at Winn. Winn reached forward and ripped the letter out of James hand, pulling it out and inspecting it, as if checking to see if it was fake. He even _sniffed_ it! 

James let his hand drop to his side as he continued to stare at the smaller man in disbelief. He seemed to be the nervous, invisible, intellectual type. And he was the one protecting all of this _magic_?

“You call Excalibur _’Cal’_?” James asked incredulously. 

“We’re friends,” Winn explained rapidly. “Best friends. Besties, really.” 

James blinked at him a few times as he processed that. Winn stood up straighter, clearing his throat to address James. 

“And _you_ ,” Winn began. “Don’t belong here. There’s been some sort of mistake. So you can go back to whatever testosterone filled gym you jogged out of, because I don’t need a Guardian!” Winn announced. Then, before James could even think of a response to that extremely rude dismissal, the man spun around and raised his head towards the ceiling. 

“YOU HEAR THAT?” Winn shouted up at the ceiling. “I DON’T NEED HIM!” 

James felt his jaw drop. This guy was talking to the _building_? He must be nuts. Everyone in this place must be _nuts_. 

Winn spun back around and offered him a very fake, sarcastic smile. 

“Sorry, not so sorry, goodbye. Don’t come back.” He said, and then turned to walk away. He stopped to pick up his Go Pro, and then turned to look at James one more time, who was still frozen in disbelief. 

“Don’t come back.” He repeated, more seriously. Then he walked away for real, disappearing behind the shelves. And James was left alone for a moment to try and put his head back on his shoulders. 

Cat Grant seemed like she knew more than this Winn idiot. And she had said that this magical place had _chosen_ him. That had to mean something. And according to Ms. Grant, it meant he was hear to protect that very same idiot. 

James balled his hands into fists and took a deep breath, and charged forward to follow the other man.

_“DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!”_

**Author's Note:**

> I had to change up some parts of the scene for the sake of fitting the characters into the roles, but I tried to stay as true to it as possible. It was a fun AU to flesh out enough for this oneshot to be good! I also combined some later backstory parts from an alternate Librarian's life into Winn, since it made so much sense with this.


End file.
